Sark: Texas ready to 'embrace the hate' ahead of last Big 12 season

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian expects the Longhorns to receive a lot of hate during their last season in Big 12, but he's optimistic his team is ready to handle the pressure.

"This team is on a mission, they've taken this mindset of being on a mission. They've kind of adopted the John Wick mentality," Sarkisian said Tuesday, according to ESPN's Dave Wilson. "I think that they've kind of assumed this mentality of, 'embrace the hate.' We get it. We're the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12. We can sit there and be a punching bag, or we can go attack the people that we're going to play.

"I think that they've assumed that responsibility to say, hey, we're gonna go after everybody else, too. I think that that's the right mentality to have."

Texas is leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC in 2024 along with Oklahoma.

The Longhorns went 8-5 last year, up from 5-7 in 2021. They were picked in the media preseason poll to win the Big 12 in 2023, which hasn't happened since 2009.

"There's definitely a lot of excitement," Sarkisian said. "When you look at the season-ticket sales in June, being sold out in June, over 68,000 season tickets."

He added: "I know our student tickets are on a record pace right now of what's to be sold. So, I think there's a lot of excitement in the air. ... Now it's time to put in the work."

Texas will kick off its 2023 season at home against Rice on Sept. 2. The Longhorns then have a must-watch road matchup versus Alabama on Sept. 9.